Sojourners

What part of me and my identity as a Christian is evangelical?And Progressive? The Greek verb Jesus uses is evangel from which the word evangelism is derived. I am called to preach the good news as an evangelical. I am also called to be an advocate for that which I preach. More than words, I am called to live the gospel. As a Presbyterian (reformed) Church pastor, I believe the gospel motivates our living what we believe. This makes me a progressive. Can a progressive also be an evangelical?

While I see myself as a progressive evangelical, I can in no way align myself with all evangelicals….especially the conservative right.

DIGGING DEEPER: I have invested over forty years preaching the “good news” of the Gospel. I continue to believe God’s ancient, unique and authoritative witness to Jesus Christ—words of scripture that speak to and live in the lives of people with hearts open to hear what ancient scriptures say. I search for what Christ says to me within the context I now live! As an ordained Minister of Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church, I continue to open my mind and heart to what inspired words of scripture can teach me.

As a preacher and pastor, I have always believed myself to be a quiet progressive—if that is possible. Maybe it’s more accurate to call myself an introvert progressive. I like the image used by a colleague—couch progressive. Perhaps I am a covert, couch progressive who tries not to wear ‘progressive’ as a badge? As a couch, covert progressive I try not letting my personal views interfere with my being an effective minister.

Scripture has long informed who I am and what I preach grounded in this text:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

because he has anointed me

to bring good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives

and recovery of sight to the blind,

to let the oppressed go free. Luke 4:18 (also Isaiah 61)

Doesn’t this sound progressive? And Evangelical? While I rarely (if ever) use this term “evangelical” to identify myself as a Christian, I have found myself aligned with much of what I believe true evangelicals represent. Back to the question: Can a progressive also be an evangelical?

Jim Wallis, founder and editor of Sojourners (www.sojo.net) has this to say:

What it means to be ‘evangelical’ is changing — it’s reverting back to its original meaning.

The new evangelical statement attempts to clarify who evangelicals are and how they should be defined: not as a people beholden to any political party, but as a people who proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ that always seeks to lift up those on the margins of society — not deport them, or scam them, or attack their professionalism because of their ethnicity or gender. These evangelicals are Americans of African and European descent, Latino/a, Asian American, and Native American. They are women and men, as well as younger and older evangelical Christians from a wide range of denominational and political backgrounds. (www.Sojo.net, March 6, 2016, ‘Evangelicals:’ You Keep using that Word.)

WHAT I BELIEVE:

Now for these thoughts in an attempt to answer the question: Can a progressive also be an evangelical? Yes, if one lives his or her life grounded / centered in the love of God. God is more than words or ideas found in the pages of ancient scripture. Love binds us together and builds us up. Love lives in and between us relationally and in our experiences. We learn about this love of God through many people, past and present, including a famous man believed by Christians to be Lord and Savior—Jesus Christ. I believe Christ lives in and between us sharing with us the love of God that binds us together and builds us up. More at another time on this subject of the ‘living Christ’.

This is why I created this blog. God lives in and between us. Love exists in and between us. Love connects us. Love builds us up. WE ARE BOUND AND NURTURED IN GOD’S LOVE!

The scripture that teaches us this concept informs who I am as an evangelical and progressive:

Hear O Israel…. ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ …. ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these. Mark 12:29ff

We cannot separate what we know of God from how we live with God!

It is from my perspective, perhaps as both an evangelical progressive, that I can preach the good news to the poor; proclaiming release to captives living in a broken world and recovery of sight/vision to those who are blinded by brokenness and sin.

Yes, I believe I can be both an evangelical and progressive — if I work at both! If I let God’s love speak and live through me.

Presbyterian Pastor who has served churches in Iowa, Illinois and Michigan. Married with one daughter who lives with her family in Concord, CA. Having served the church for nearly forty years, plan now on relaxing and enjoying my wife and family.....doing things I never took time to do before!

Where the passionate are fed. Where the spiritually starving are nourished. “Artists,” she said, “are simply people who are passionate enough to imagine things that do not yet exist.” Seona Reid, Principal of Glasgow School of Art, graduation 2003